Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul missed the team’s Week 13 victory over the Redskins because of a shoulder injury that’s caused him problems for several weeks.
Pierre-Paul was able to fight through the injury to make a crucial interception in a victory over the Packers, but he was completely ineffective against the Cowboys after spending the week making promises about making Dallas shed blood during their visit to the Meadowlands. With the shoulder not doing any better last week and the Giants’ playoff chances increasingly remote, coach Tom Coughlin was asked if the team might officially shut Pierre-Paul down after two weeks where it’s looked like he’s unofficially packed it in for the season.
“I don’t think so,” Coughlin said, via the Newark Star-Ledger. “I don’t think it [the injury] is in that position. We really don’t know what his status will be this week until we get a little bit closer to Wednesday. He has been treated and rested and hopefully there’s going to be some progress made.”
Like most of the Giants’ star players, Pierre-Paul’s had a miserable season. It started with him slowed by recovery from back surgery and then he hurt his shoulder just as he was talking about feeling back to normal near the middle of the season. He’ll be in the final year of his contract in 2014 and he’ll need to show a lot more than he did this season in order to get the big extension that seemed a sure thing when Pierre-Paul was tearing things up during the 2011 season.